


take the love that we found, give it back to ourselves

by Xekstrin



Series: Looking Through Your Window [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 18:49:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19235026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xekstrin/pseuds/Xekstrin
Summary: Learning the truth about Marinette makes everything different.Alya embraces change with both arms.





	take the love that we found, give it back to ourselves

Alya awoke from a dreamless sleep. There was no gradual shift. One moment she was in darkness and the next her eyes snapped open, instantly alert. Sitting up, she stared out her window as the sky shifted from violet to orange to robin-blue. Watching the sunrise was her quiet time, a reward for an all-nighter or for getting up early. The same, but different every time.

Things should be different now.

They shouldn't feel exactly the same; the sunrise shouldn't creep upwards as it always did.

Opening her laptop, Alya went back to an archived version of her website and updated it. The blog immediately filled up with comments, most of them grateful that she had returned, a few bitter and angry and entitled that it had been deleted in the first place, and a few desperately curious about why she had shut it down.

One comment in particular made her freeze.

_Will you still be posting the links for Fanfic Friday?_

Her hands hovered over the keyboard, mind completely blank.

"Oh no," she said, "Oh no!"

Furious, she pulled out her phone and started tapping away.

 

_AC: YOU!_

 

The response was quick.

 

**MDC: ?????**

**MDC: everything ok?**

 

_AC: YOU KNEW._

_AC: YOU KNEW THE WHOLE TIME._

 

**MDC: your gonna have to be a little more specific than that, Alya**

 

Her face grew hot. Clicking through the fanfiction archive on her Ladyblog, she entered the password for the NSFW section. It was embarrassing to admit, but at one point, her crush on Ladybug had become too much to bear. She picked out a pseudonym, different from her Admin handle, and written out her fantasies anonymously. To her surprise a lot of people liked it. The list of people who'd given it a "fistbump" was long, but she did a search through for one name in particular.

There it was. Clear as day. Marinette's username.

On her fanfiction.

 

 _AC: you read my fanfic!_ _  
_ _AC: MY LADYBUG!!!! FANFIC!_

 

**MDC: you asked me to D:**

 

_AC: you could have said no!_

 

**MDC: when your best friend asks you to beta, you do it!**

 

Grabbing a pillow from her bed, Alya screamed into it. Leave it to Marinette to have a perfectly noble and adorable excuse. Reading through her own fic again, Alya grew warmer and warmer.

 

**MDC: i did always wonder why you shipped ladybug and cat noir tho**

 

_AC: it was better than making a self insert. i don't know_

_AC: i thought she liked him, so_

 

So? So she imagined them boinking each other's brains out and posted it on the internet?

It wasn't as though she'd known Marinette's secret at the time, but that was a hard point to focus on.

 

 _AC: im so sorry, about everything_ _  
_ _AC: I'll delete the whole archive_

 

**MDC: NO!!!!!!**

 

Alya paused again, staring at her phone as it began to buzz. Accepting the call, she didn't even get a word in before Marinette started talking.

"I love the fanfic section! Please don't get rid of it." Marinette didn't have her camera activated, but she sounded flustered regardless. "Most of the stories there are G-rated anyway, and some of them are super cute. Please! I know people work so hard on them, at least give them warning before you purge the whole thing!"

That was all rational and reasonable. But the fact was, Marinette still had access to the adult-only section. Alya had created it after enough discourse had gotten on her nerves about the shippers and the non-shippers causing each other grief. A password had calmed down the worst of it. Nevermind the fact that they were both not legally adults themselves, it still felt like the right thing to do. She was fairly certain most of the stories posted were by other teens who were also lying about their age, if the grammar and painfully inaccurate anatomy was anything to go by.

Still.

"I'm going to die, Marinette," Alya said, sitting down hard on the edge of her bed. "It's barely been twenty-four hours since you told me— about that thing, and I'm already freaking out."

A shuffle on the other end, and a flicker on her screen as Marinette turned on her camera. "I'm sorry. I know it's a lot."

The conversation grew stilted. There was only so much they could discuss over text or the phone. Marinette had made that part very clear. There couldn't be any physical record of this, or her identity would be at risk.

Marinette was Ladybug.

Her best friend, her crush. Her heroine; the woman she worshipped. They were all the same person, and the whole world was different now, and her dirty fanfic was the least of her worries.

 _Why did you tell me?_ she wanted to ask, again. But she knew she'd only get the same answer Marinette had given her last night.

_Because I love you._

Seeing Marinette's big blue eyes reminded her of it. Painfully aware of the silence stretching on, Alya tried to find something else to say, but not a single thought made it to her lips. They had to return to mundanity; they had to talk in code. They couldn't be open again, not the way they were before.

The weight of it all was crushing, and more than ever, Alya understood why Marinette had chosen to keep this a secret for so many years.

"Alya..." Marinette started, then stopped. "Is it okay if we sit next to each other in class again?"

"Of course."

Her best friend let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I was worried you'd still be mad at me."

Alya huffed in amusement. Reclining on her bed, Alya smirked into the camera. "Why would I be?"

Two wine-red spots grew on her cheeks. Marinette was so pale-skinned, she blushed at the drop of a hat and it spread over her whole face. It was adorable on the best of days, when Alya would harmlessly tease her just for the pleasure of seeing that reaction. Knowing she was responsible for it made her feel even better.

"Marinette?" she sang out. "Is there something I should be mad about?"

Her eyes darted, as if seeking an escape from the confines of the phone screen. "I k-kissed you without asking permission."

Oh. She had, hadn't she? But that wasn't what either of them were talking about.

_God, this is confusing._

"There's nothing wrong with that," Alya murmured, low. "In fact, I'm giving you permission now to kiss me whenever, wherever you feel like it. All right?"

Something very, very strange happened. Marinette stuttered, the phone falling out of her hands. Alya saw her feet for a second, then the view became dizzying as Marinette played hot potato with her own cell phone. "Oh. OH. Oh. Okay! That's a thing! Sure! I mean I'd kiss to love— would love fisk kist." Marinette cleared her throat again. "Love fish cake."

A few second stretched on; Alya couldn't stop smiling.

Marinette covered her face with her free hand. "Tell me I didn't just say I love fish cake."

"You did, but it was cute."

Of course she'd seen how Marinette acted around her crushes. It turned her smart, cool, crafty friend into a wiggly mess, like wet paper flapping in the wind. That was how for the longest time, she had been certain her feelings were not reciprocated.

Maybe having an outlet in the form of Ladybug had helped Marinette avoid it until now— and having the barrier between their two lives eroded meant...

"So I gotta, you know, do the things. Showering and cleaning activities," Marinette was saying, though Alya barely listened. "Just gotta get ready for another day of fun education at the school we both attend!"

Marinette swung her fist through the air, but that launched the phone again. She squeaked, trying to retrieve it, and Alya finally had pity on her. "I'll see you in class, okay? Try to get there in one piece."

"You too!" Marinette said. Another rattle as she got ahold of her phone and smiled into the camera. For a moment Marinette softened, nerves easing in the face of sincere adoration. ["I'll see you later, beautiful."](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELzgEvk31dk)

The pet name, the one exclusively used by Ladybug, made her heart start pounding like a drum.

  


* * *

 

When she arrived, Marinette was waiting for her right outside the front doors to the building.

She stopped a few times before reaching her, and then they were in person again, and it had been a day since Marinette told her the secret, and also a day since they had kissed until bruises formed all down Marinette's skin. She was covering it with a scarf and making it look intentional and not at all like she was hiding evidence of making out with her best friend. Cool, trend-setting, fashionable, genius Marinette.

God she loved her. She'd loved her for so long. There was nothing between them now, nothing stopping her from getting everything she wanted.

But nerves tied her tongue into knots.

Awkward. Awkward awkward. Where to begin? Just act like normal? Would that rouse suspicion? Or would it be weird to not interact? Everyone knew they weren't talking to each other. It would be weirder to just stand there and stare at each other, though, so one of them had to do something.

Aaaaany second now.

Alya forced herself to move first, planting a kiss on both Marinette's cheeks. That was normal enough, except for how Marinette started giggling like a fool afterward. With a dry grin, Alya cocked her head to the side. "What?"

"You kissed me," Marinette said, under her breath.

"I've always kissed you hello," Alya pointed out.

"Yeah. But now it's different. Now it's. You know. I mean I know you know!"

Marinette seemed like she was about to dissolve again, frantically looking everywhere but into Alya's eyes.

They walked to their seats, sitting closer together than usual. It was hard to stay away from her; finally, she was back within grabbing distance and they were in public and, and, and... and Alya realized they hadn't made any plans to come out to everyone around them.

Would this part be secret too? It made her head spin; she didn't want to think about it, instead watching as Marinette spilled her pencil case all over the desk and scrambled to pick it up.

_Marinette, you're useless around your crushes._

"Where is my best friend and who is this weird alien creature that has replaced her?" Alya wondered, chin resting on her fist.

A soft gasp. Marinette held her pencil case to her chest. And then a daydreamy little sigh. "I love it when you call me your best friend."

Sputtering in laughter, Alya leaned her head on Marinette's shoulder, and that was when the rest of the class started filing in. Most of them gave them a look of surprise; almost everyone was happy. Chloe of course had something snide to say; it honestly rolled right over Alya's skin like water on a duck feather.

Nothing else happened, other than a lot of good natured ribbing and questions from their friends, glad to see that their argument was over. It was all running smoothly; there was no mention at all of _the secret,_ not until the end of the school day.

"I'd like to come over tonight," Marinette said, "I need to talk to you about something important."

"Sure. You know my window's always open for you, Lovebug."

There were two Marinettes.

She'd known that for a while now. It was a big part of the reason they had that fight. Not much got past Alya, and she'd watched Marinette skip classes and lose sleep and lie and make increasingly flimsy excuses for years. She never said a word, because to do so would admit that Marinette was keeping a secret, a huge one. Marinette was impossibly sweet and soft. She'd give you the shirt off her back. There was a core of something _noble_ in her, something untouchable, and Alya had quietly fostered her own crush with the knowledge that Marinette would never feel the same way.

She was content being her best friend. To tease her and have sleepovers and only hold her when she was deep in slumber, drawing close and breathing in deep, kissing her shoulder.

They shared everything, except _that secret._

Except Marinette's face fell, and she grabbed Alya by the wrist and dragged her into the girl's bathroom. A stutter left her lips before they were locked in the stall, and Marinette had her pressed up there, eyes like an arctic ocean.

"I need you to listen carefully," Marinette spoke quietly. "Don't talk about the secret where others can hear. Don't joke about it. It's not a matter of your safety; it could mean your life, or someone else's. I don't want you to say another word; nod if you understand."

There were two Marinettes. She'd known them both but didn't realize she knew until last night. A scarlet figure, someone who escorted her home late at night, and who was strong enough to lift her in one arm. Someone larger than life, holding up the weight of the sky. Alya could feel some of that strength even now, rolling off Marinette's body like heat waves, like a dozen mouths licking her skin in long, heady strokes.

It turned her on when Ladybug manhandled her a little. The heroine was a distant figure, safe to love, because Alya knew there was no chance of those feelings being returned. Safe to love and lust after, to explore her own feelings without risk of rejection, either. Nothing lost and nothing broken, no friendships tangled, no messy relationships to navigate.

They were the same person.

There was one Marinette and she was staring Alya in the eyes, waiting for her to nod.

"Marinette," Alya said, "I've been calling you Lovebug since we were fifteen."

Marinette blinked a few times.

"You have?"

"Yeah," Alya said.

A blank look entered Marinette's expression. And then, "Oh my god. You have."

"Pfffft." Biting back a laugh, Alya snorted and covered her mouth with one hand. "You _freaked._ _out_."

Her friend drew back, turning so red so fast she looked ready to burst, like a cartoon thermometer. "Alya, I'm so sorry! I'm not... this is... I got scared!"

She rolled her eyes, irritation setting in now that the tense moment had faded. "Try having a little faith in me."

"It's stressful when you have to keep a secret this big," a third voice whispered. Glancing down in shock, Alya saw Marinette's purse open a bit. From within she saw a single eye, glittering with amusement. "Marinette doesn't like lying, so it's extra hard for her."

Tikki. That was her name. They'd had a stilted introduction last night as well. Alya's shirt had been pulled halfway over her head and they were both breathing hard, and she needed to know everything, she needed more. Until Tikki cleared her throat and reminded the two girls that they weren't alone. That had been awkward.

"Just so you know, I won't talk about that stuff while we're at school." Alya promised, pinkie out, and Marinette hesitantly accepted. "Promise."

"Thanks. I'm sorry for not trusting you."

Marinette looked up at her, shyly, adjusting her scarf. This close to her she could see where the fabric slipped. Fascinated, Alya pulled it down a little to look at the mark of her teeth on Marinette's skin.

"I'm sorry I savaged your neck." Alya said, stroking the hickey with her finger. Marinette had been much more careful about where and how she kissed, another point in her favor as being the sweetest girl in the universe. "I like the way they look, though."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm. I like _you_."

"I like you a lot too."

She leaned down and kissed Marinette again, and that's when they both heard a loud camera shutter noise.

Flinching, Marinette's hand dropped to secure her purse before anything else. But Tikki had already locked herself away when she noticed the two girls getting close and tender again.

They both looked up, glaring at Chloe who hung over the stall with her phone in her hand.

"Naughty naughty, Marinette." She waved her phone, taking another picture.

Growling, Alya put an arm around Marinette's shoulder, one hand behind her head and holding Marinette to her chest. It was instinct, like she could protect her from another picture being taken. All Alya knew was that she needed to cover her face.

"Making out with your girlfriend in school is _so_ trashy. I wonder what Adrian would think if—"

Marinette broke free of Alya's hold and threw herself against the divider between the stalls. _Hard_. The whole frame rattled, that monstrous strength unleashed just enough to unsettle Chloe from her perch. She screamed, losing her balance and falling into her own stall. A splash of water, and then another scream.

" _My phone!_ "

  


* * *

  
  


They texted constantly, talking in code over how to progress from there on out. First order of business: were they out about their relationship?

Yes. Undoubtedly. _That_ didn't need to be kept secret.

 

_AC: Your cover stories are also weak as shit, girl_

 

 **MDC: : (**  

 

_AC: no puppy dog eyes baby_   
_AC: you have an expert bullshitter with you now so you can do lies better_

 

**MDC: : )**

   
Hours after dark, when Marinette should have swung by, Alya waited by her open window. She had a suspicion something was keeping Marinette and when she took a glance at her computer, she saw that a minor Akuma skirmish was happening downtown.

Time to get to work, then.

She had just finished pulling on her boots, ready to run out in search of the story the way she always did, when a shadow darkened her window.

Alya paused, looking up from her shoelaces to the figure standing there, quiet and still as a statue.

It was her. But not her.

There were two Marinettes.

Ladybug looked more like herself than ever. She had always looked like a girl Alya's age, with dark hair and dark eyes and lips painted red like the outfit she wore. There was something different in the way she carried herself, a force of nature. Untouchable.

Alya had been in love the moment she first saw her.

As she moved closer, Alya now saw that Ladybug wasn't walking straight. Intense fire burned in her eyes, a limp in her step. As she hit the light of Alya's desk lamp, she could spot a streak of dried blood cracking on her lips.

"Ladybug?" Alya was rooted to the spot, unable to retreat, and unsure why she wanted to run.

Ladybug dazzled her with a grin, reassuring her. "Hey, beautiful."

Her earrings were blinking, on their last dot. Before Alya could point it out, Ladybug took another unsteady step forward. She stumbled; shocked, Alya caught her, holding her upright. The catch turned into a long embrace and they held each other, Ladybug trembling faintly.

"I think it must have been fate," Ladybug said.

She didn't know what that meant and didn't want to address it just yet. "Hon, you're running low on juice there. Do you need to hide?"

Ladybug shook her head. "That's why Tikki wasn't mad I told you. It was supposed to happen. Either I told you, or you would find out. It's all written in the stars, probably, we just can't read them anymore. It's fate. It's definitely fate bringing to you, it was always you."

This was starting to frighten her and she said so. So Ladybug quieted her with another kiss, this one long and tender, and she couldn't fight it off even if she wanted to. She definitely didn't want to. Stepping forward, Ladybug pushed Alya up against her desk, the monitor and her pens rattling from the force of it.

"It was always you," Ladybug said into her neck. The Miraculous lucky charm fell onto the desk, and Alya's heart stopped to see that it looked just like her own cellphone.

"Ladybug—"

"I need you, Alya." Ladybug kissed her again, harder. The charm was forgotten for now, Alya's fists bunching up in Ladybug's hair to keep her close. "I need you to do something for me."

She swallowed a tight knot in her throat. The lucky charm had brought Ladybug to her. But for what? It didn't seem like a normal request. In the end, Alya found the nerves to speak. "Yes. Whatever you want."

When Ladybug pulled away, she looked a little less rattled, more like herself.

Reaching behind her back, Ladybug retrieved a small box. Intricately carved of old, warm wood, with delicate pearl paneling. As Alya watched in awe, Ladybug kept talking, as if she'd rehearsed this.

The last dot on her earrings faded with a shrill beep.

"Alya Césare," Marinette said. As her own armor began to dissolve away, she was left defenseless and open in Alya's bedroom. "Here is the Miraculous of the Fox, which grants the power of illusion. You will use it for the greater good."

The de-transformation was complete. Her best friend stood in the bedroom, lip still busted. Now that the mask had vanished, Alya could see a black eye forming as well, shadows gathering around her brow.

"Once the job is done, you will return the Miraculous to me."

And Marinette looked so small like this. Fearful almost.

"Can I trust you?"

Alya would have burned down the world for her in that moment, if she'd asked.

Instead she grinned. _"Totally,_ Ladybug."

And that was the moment when Alya was sure one day she'd marry her best friend.

She took the Miraculous, in her heart accepting it as something that would link them together forever. Stronger than marriage, maybe. Stronger than anything she'd ever experience again.  
  


* * *

  


Two years later caught them outside on a windy night, rapidly de-transforming. "Ladybug, I'm running out of time. We need to wrap this up!" 

"Working on it!"

Every so often the call of their nature meant they weren't fighting Akuma, but regular people. Regular people had their own demons, of course, but they couldn't be exorcised with a twirl and a flick of a magic toy. 

They left gifts for the police every now and again, catching a mugger with one quick strike to the wrist. Disarming him, and then Rena made him dance to her tune all the way to the station. But her illusion wasn't going to last much longer, and the counter was running low.

Not wasting more time on words, Ladybug grabbed her and vaulted them out of there. Up on the rooftops it began to drizzle, the darkness and mists shrouding them. Rena finished de-transforming in Ladybug's arms, and on instinct hid her face against her girlfriend's chest. They stole away to one of their regular hideouts, an empty roof of an empty building with lots of little nooks and crannies to hide.

Cat Noir had been here recently; there was a gift waiting for them under a lean-to. A notebook with a few sketches from him. Setting Alya down, Ladybug laughed and drew something back, leaving it for him to find, the next time he was hiding out up here. 

"You okay?" Alya asked her, glancing at her earrings. There'd been no Akuma, and so no need for the power of her Miraculous. All the spots were there until Ladybug decided to de-transform.

"Yeah. I'll Spots Off after I take you home." Snapping the notebook shut, Ladybug strode up to Alya, her steps confident and measured. Ladybug always walked like she had a goal, and she knew exactly how to reach it. "For now, let's take a look a this."

One bad thing about no Ladybug power: no reversal of any damage taken. Alya had sustained something minor, just a scratch, really. But she let Ladybug fuss over her, because she was never going to say no to her girlfriend touching her while in costume.

It was a rare thing, one of them being garbed and the other unarmored. Usually they were both de-transformed, or both in costume. Alya liked it, it reminded her of old times. Losing herself in those memories, she gazed at Ladybug, whose concentration was entirely on wrapping up the injury on Alya's arm.

Focus made her eyes even darker than usual. Fresh out of secondary school and making a name for herself in the industry, Marinette looked like a model herself. Sharp cheekbones. Lovely soft jaw.

But her love wasn't on stage; it was behind the scenes, drawing and drafting and shaping the world. Alya had always known Marinette was a mover and a shaker, someone who deserved influence and power. Because Marinette never used her power for herself; she was always the kind of girl who used favors to help the people around her.

And so she lifted up the people she loved; and so they lifted her with them. And higher, and higher.

"I love it when you look at me like that," Ladybug murmured, suddenly, breaking the silence. It forced Alya's gaze up, once she realized she was staring at Ladybug's mouth. It shouldn't have been a surprise that Ladybug noticed her staring. She noticed everything.

It shouldn't have made her shy, but it did. When she was out of costume around Ladybug the power difference between them yawned like a gaping abyss. Something about her aura filled up the air around them, constantly reminding Alya that she was on some level dealing with an ancient being, old and strong as the pyramids. Then again, all it would have taken was a moment to recharge the Fox Miraculous and there'd be an even playing field.

"Like what?" she asked, a little afraid of the answer, but excited, too. She always wondered if Ladybug could tell what was on her mind when they were close like this. Nothing kept them apart now, and there was no need to keep the touches polite, or innocent.

When her girlfriend touched her again, gently, tilting her head even further back, she couldn't help but exhale sharply.

Ladybug's eyes were dark, dark blue. They couldn't seem to focus on any one part of her, too distracted by what she saw as she said, softly,

"Like I'm a god."

A noise of disagreement left her lips, but it turned into a little moan when Ladybug kissed her. Soft, sweet, innocent. Like a bite of chocolate or a delicate pastry from her father's store. Marinette was sweet as spun sugar when she wanted to be, and Alya licked her way into her mouth like she could find the source there and wipe her clean, weather it down like a cat tongue stripping meat from the bone.

Their sleepovers had stopped being innocent a long time ago, but they rarely had a chance to kiss in costume. It felt like kissing someone else, she sharply realized, as Ladybug's strength pooled into her and she was pinned against the chimney stack. Her body felt wrong, looked wrong. The power of the mask made her different, a scion of ancient energies, a figure out of myths.

"How are you feeling now, beautiful?"

The nickname made her smile. To think she'd accused Ladybug of only using it to avoid saying her real name.

Now she knew the truth; Ladybug just thought she was beautiful, and wanted to say it as often as possible. She didn't need to hide behind the mask to say it anymore, either, and it was dropped as often as her own name. 

 _Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful._ Ladybug said it like a promise. She said it into her ear at night before they went to bed in their apartment, the one they'd just moved into last month. They spent a solid weekend breaking in the mattress. _You are beautiful_. Marinette peppered it into conversation over breakfast, during work, in text messages. _The most beautiful woman in the world._

"Alya?" A note of concern entered her voice. Then it went lower. "...You're still looking at me like you want to eat me up."

"Maybe I do. What're you gonna do about it?"

"You know I can't resist a dare."

One muscled thigh worked between her legs with the experience of someone who knew her body intimately. However, it was a stranger kissing her, someone who tasted like Marinette but didn't look like her. Groaning again in confusion, Alya gasped when Ladybug's hands gripped her hips tight, forcing Alya harder down onto her thigh.

Higher, higher.

"M—" Alya started. "Ladybug, I can't— Is there a way to get these open?" She'd never thought to try before now.

When her hand slid between Ladybug's thighs, she felt only stiff armor. Of course. It could block a bullet; it wasn't made for easy access. Ladybug grabbed her by the wrist and pinned that to the wall too, amusement in her eyes.

"Let me take care of you."

"But I want to." She hated how it came out like a petulant whine. Her voice was desperate at that point, the hazy drizzle around them made the air warm and wet, and everything was sticking to her. Her hair was also gonna suffer a major case of the humid fuzzies but that was just the danger of existing out as a superhero; sometimes you were gonna get caught in inclement weather.

"You want to." It sounded like she was mocking her. Ladybug cast that big cocky grin at her again, the one that made her look like a rockstar. Or maybe a film star. Or maybe an adult film star, considering their current position. "Alya?"

"Yeah?" 

"You know I love you."

That shouldn't have made her hot. They said it every day. 

But not like this. Not in someone else's voice, wearing a mask that gave her a stranger's face.

"Yeah," Alya said.

"Good." Gently, she started rocking against her, watching Alya's face. "...So. You want to?"

This was a trap. She could smell it in the air, like the rain washing all the smog out of the sky. Still, she grasped onto Ladybug's shoulders, moving with her. She let the feeling take her over, relishing in the strength of the arms caging her.

Ladybug moved in close. They didn't kiss, too distracted by the rising tension between their bodies. When they were having sex, sometimes she came with Marinette sucking on her lower lip. But most times, like right then, they breathed each other's air, feeling the warmth but not touching, not touching, so close but not breaking that final centimeter. It was almost like a challenge, playing a game. _Too hot to touch. First one to break loses._ Except the game ended the same way every time, with Alya shuddering around Marinette's fingers.

"I want to." Alya was shaking. When Ladybug's fingers slipped under the waist of her jeans, she twitched at the alien sensation. Gloved fingers slid against hot, wet skin. It was different. Rougher than Marinette's soft hands, the ones that delicately stroked her off in their bedroom at night. 

"Want to what?"

"Want to touch you." Ladybug pressed hard, perfectly, over her clit. Trapped between fabric and flesh, Alya couldn't squirm away from the overwhelming sensation. "Oh, I want to. Please."

The pressure increased. Fingers worked her clit, the touch almost soothing if it weren't for how demanding and certain the strokes were. Marinette had memorized her; it made sense Ladybug knew her too. They were the same person, after all, even if sometimes it didn't feel that way. 

Ladybug's entire body was pressed against hers. The heat radiating off of her could have melted the storm away, turned it into steam. Her mouth grazed Alya's ear, lipping it gently. " _I don't care what you want right now._ " 

This was wrong. It had to be wrong, right? It had to be weird to long for the days when she wasn't Ladybug's peer but her squirmy little fangirl. She would have done anything to please her. She hadn't even known her identity and she would have done this in a heartbeat, if Ladybug asked.

_Would it have been like this?_

Those fingers delved down deeper, gathering wetness and playing with her. It felt like this whole exchange was Ladybug toying with her, something massive batting her from paw to paw. She sank inside Alya, palm grinding over her painfully stiff clit.

A thread of panic wove around her heart when she didn't recognize the voice in her ear. "I can feel you twitching right through my glove."

"Marinette?" she asked, flinching away.

Maybe noticing the fear in her voice, Ladybug stopped. She pulled free, her pretty mouth frowning. "Yeah? You okay?"

God, her heart was thundering. "You... you don't sound like you. It made me nervous."

Her girlfriend winced. "It's the mask."

Protecting her identity, of course. Changing her. But Alya wasn't comfortable, not until Ladybug smiled gently—

And the mask fell off. Marinette was still in costume, but everything about her changed. She was a girl again, not a god, and the voice speaking to Alya was high and sweet.

"Better?"

She kissed her hungrily in response, tangling her fingers in Marinette's hair. Her response was eager and messy as she worked Alya's pants down a little further. A growl escaped Alya's chest, tension squeezing tighter and tighter. Like a second heartbeat between her legs, she felt pleasure pounding out until it spilled over. She squeezed around Marinette's fingers, hips thrusting to get the last echo of pleasure out of the touch.

She said the wrong name when she came. But it just made Marinette laugh, and Alya was too busy gasping _Ladybug_ to be embarrassed. It wasn't the wrong person; just the wrong name for the moment. All the wires crossed together, sex and love, and friendship, and partnership. They'd just finished spending the night swinging through Paris using those names; she was still thinking of her in that name and persona.

That body pressed up against her was hard as rock; Alya clutched it in need, nails digging in.

It seared her, like a strike of lightning in the distance. Marinette's lips were on her throat, _beautiful_ , she mouthed, but didn't say it loud enough for Alya to hear.

Then Alya relaxed, sinking back against warm stone with a laugh. Her death grip turned into soft pets, grateful. "That was so much."

"Well you were the one standing there looking all cute 'n stuff." Marinette wiped her hands clean, shrugging. "What was I supposed to do?"

With shaking hands, Alya fixed herself up again. Buttoning her pants, she looked up in time to see Marinette putting the mask back on. The transformation rippled over her like a mirage, and she changed. While Ladybug never wore the same face twice, she always had those same eyes.

"I can't believe we've never done that before," Ladybug said. She sat under the lean-to, their secret hideout, and patted the ground between her legs. Alya gratefully sank down onto her lap, snuggling out the last of the post-coital bliss. She was warm and thrumming like an old electric lamp; Ladybug's arms around her made her feel protected. Nowhere in the city was safer than this exact spot.

"I think I thought I'd get weird," Alya said. Then, "I _did_ get weird."

"Only a little." Ladybug kissed the top of her head. "But I guess that's to be expected."

Ladybug's legs squeezed around her too.

"You're my biggest fan, after all."

"Stooppppp." Alya whined, even as she wriggled closer.

When her blood settled down, she let her thoughts drift and wander. Every so often she was in danger of nodding off, but never moved away. Of course Ladybug could carry them to their home. But she wanted to stay like this, together.

Tomorrow would be different; they'd wake up the same, do the same routine, go to work, but it would be different. Something had changed, and yet life would continue on for them as if it hadn't. It wasn't a good change or a bad one, just a subtle shift, the way Ladybug's face rippled when she wore the mask.

The sun rose on them, driving away the clouds.

She'd never seen a sunrise that beautiful in her life.

[She couldn't wait to see the next.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvkER5yoNW8)

  


**Author's Note:**

> Written for Scoob. <3


End file.
